The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 290

A newly built building stood near the entrance of Eiden Hill.

After the appearance of the Satanist Executive known as Envy, demonic energy had engulfed Eiden Hill, and the building had been constructed during the process of purifying Eiden Hill. The teachers could monitor the situation from inside the building through the various cameras and other communication devices scattered throughout Eiden Hill.

—Choi Wong from the Class of Humility has been eliminated from the exam, ranking in 54th place...

—Seo Raon from the Class of Diligence has been eliminated from the exam, ranking in 31st place...

—Han Su-Ryeon from the Class of Temperance has been eliminated from the exam, ranking in 11th place...

Do-Jin was monitoring the situation while listening to reports from the teachers stationed throughout Eiden Hill. He carefully checked who had been eliminated, their ranking, and how many students were left on Eiden Hill. He also paid close attention to the locations of the students through the GPS devices that were attached to their shock detection devices.

Bok-Dong was monitoring the situation with Do-Jin, and he muttered, "It's all unfolding in an instant."

About an hour had passed since the start of the final practical exam. According to the teachers' expectations, around one hundred students were supposed to remain on Eiden Hill at this time. However, contrary to the expectations, only about ten students remained at Eiden Hill.

"The skill levels of some of the students are just too overwhelming," said Do-Jin.

The students he was referring to were students like Jin-Seo, Dae-Man, Min-Seo, Sun-Woo, and Yu-Hyun. Most of the students that had survived so far were student council members who had received the Holy Names of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

Dae-Man had teamed up with his classmate Ha-Rin. Min-Seo and Sun-Woo had also teamed up.

Yu-Hyun moved alone, but rather than actively engaging in combat, he prioritized fighting in battles that were essential for survival.

Do-Jin couldn’t exactly say that their strategies were unique. It was simply because of their individual skills that they had managed to survive until now.

Bok-Dong oversaw the exam as he murmured, "I can’t exactly call this an unfair exam, but... I can’t exactly call it a fair exam either.”

The top students had formed teams with other top students and were ruthlessly eliminating the mid to lower-tier students. As a result, the exam was overly advantageous for students with exceptional abilities. Furthermore, for mid to lower-tier students, the exam relied more on luck than individual abilities.

As Bok-Dong had said, the exam wasn’t exactly fair or unfair.

"But there was no other alternative for this exam. This was the safest option," Do-Jin whispered softly.

Bok-Dong nodded in agreement.

In fact, there were many better alternatives. The teachers could prevent the top students from dominating the exam and give the mid to lower-tier students a chance to prove themselves.

The problem was safety. If they were to prioritize fairness and differentiation, then they would need to expand the scale of the exam, which meant renting external venues instead of using the school facilities. However, if they did that, there were bound to be vulnerabilities in the venue, no matter how many safety measures they put in place. Cults like the Satanists or the Voodooists might try to take advantage of them to attack the students.

Furthermore, some of the more capable teachers had retired after the death of Chairman Chang-Won. The remaining teachers had lacked the adequate time and resources to spend on the practical exams due to various administrative issues related to the Florence Academy Foundation. In other words, this was the best that they could do.

“...”

The exam had various problems, but the biggest problem was Jin-Seo. Whenever she spotted a student, she would beat them up with her practice sword and eliminate them, even injuring some of them in the process. Despite engaging in a large number of battles, Jin-Seo had not been eliminated yet because her skills were far superior to the other students.

Her skills improved day by day, and so she possessed unparalleled abilities compared to anyone else at Florence Academy.

Bok-Dong closely observed Jin-Seo's movements. He chuckled and said, "Do-Jin, do you think you can beat that kid?"

"I should be able to win. The difference in our experience is staggering after all. But I’ve gotten older, and I'm not as fit as I used to be these days. If I consider that...”

"Why are you making excuses? Are you not confident?"

"...You’re so childish—still so hung up about who wins and who loses. Are you a kid?" Do-Jin replied bluntly.

Bok-Dong chuckled and said, "By the way, what about Ha-Yeon?"

"She's absent. She's preparing for the Central Priesthood entrance exam..."

Beeeeep—!

A red signal came through Dae-Man's shock detection device, which meant that a shock detection device was broken, indicating the possibility of an injured person.

Do-Jin quickly confirmed Dae-Man's location. Near Dae-Man were Ha-Rin, Min-Seo, and Sun-Woo.

"It’s this bastard Sun Woo again?"

Do-Jin drew his sword and fixed his gaze on Sun-Woo's location.

***

While wandering around Eiden Hill with Min-Seo, I encountered Dae-Man and Ha-Rin. It was right after Su-Ryeon had been eliminated.

As soon as Min-Seo saw Dae-Man, she skillfully nocked an arrow onto her bow and aimed at him. Although there were two opponents, Dae-Man was unarmed and Ha-Rin was holding a spear.

Ha-Rin also adjusted her stance. She was clearly ready to throw the spear. If Min-Seo released her arrow or if Ha-Rin threw her spear, the battle would start immediately.

Just as I was also about to take a spear-throwing stance, Dae-Man loudly roared, "Wait a momeeent—!"

Min-Seo frowned, and I flinched slightly.

Dae-Man clenched his fist and took a boxing stance. Then he looked at me and said, "Sun-Woo, put down your weapon!"

"What?"

"Put down your weapon. Let's settle this with our fists!"

I was so taken aback by Dae-Man’s proposal that I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. This was not a sparring match to test each other's strength or passion but an exam. It didn't matter what weapons students used or what dirty tricks they pulled in order to get good grades. Yet, Dae-Man insisted on engaging in hand-to-hand combat with me.

Then again, this was Dae-Man's nature and temperament. I ignored Dae-Man's proposal and grabbed my spear.

Nevertheless, Dae-Man continued to stand firm, staring at me with zealous eyes as he said, "Weapons are for the weak. The truly strong fight with the strength of only their physical body!”

"Are we not going to use blessings either?”

"Of course. Let's fight only with our bodies that we have tempered through training!"

Min-Seo chuckled and said, "What a load of nonsense. Why would we do that?"

She was right. I had no reason to accept Dae-Man's proposal. Why on earth would I discard my perfectly good weapon and engage in hand-to-hand combat with Dae-Man? His proposal was foolish and reckless.

Clatter.

Nonetheless, I lowered my spear. Like Dae-Man, I clenched my fists and assumed a stance. Seeing this, Min-Seo furrowed her brows and looked at me as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

"What are you doing? Are you insane?" she said.

"Why not? It seems like it'll be fun."

"No, sigh..."

"It’s fine as long as I win," I said as I assumed my stance.

Then, I confidently approached Dae-Man. In reality, I wasn't very confident in hand-to-hand combat. However, I was using Bossou's power and had experience in close combat with Yuk Eun-Hyung at Noah's Ark. I had agreed to Dae-Man's proposal because I wanted to see the results of my training sessions with Yuk Eun-Hyung.

"..."

Ha-Rin glanced between me and Dae-Man with a befuddled look. I ignored her and slowly closed the distance.

As if finding the current situation extremely fun and exciting, Dae-Man faced me with clenched fists.

He shouted, "I knew you would do it, Sun-Woo! This is what it means to be truly strong! This is what real confidence looks like!”

I simply smiled in response to his words. Then, I threw my fist toward Dae-Man.

Thud!

I had aimed my fist at Dae-Man's jaw, but he blocked it with his muscular forearm. In response, Dae-Man threw a punch back at me. It seemed like a heavy blow that I wouldn’t be able to block, so instead of blocking it, I dodged it.

Dae-Man had bulked up even more since I had last seen him, and the weight behind his punches had also increased. A tingling sense of excitement spread throughout my body.

"Nice. It feels like you’ve bulked up. Did you take steroids?"

"I don't use such despicable tricks. This body of mine is something that can only be built with diligence and hard work," Dae-Man said as the veins in his neck bulged.

I nodded and smiled. The exam had been boring and dull, but thanks to Dae-Man, it started to become a bit more enjoyable.

I extended my fist and landed it squarely on Dae-Man's jaw. He staggered for a moment but then regained his composure through sheer willpower.

He retaliated with a punch. This time, I didn't dodge and took the hit. Dae-Man's massive fist struck my abdomen. It didn't hurt much, but I struggled to catch my breath for a moment, and my legs wobbled.

Min-Seo watched our passionate duel and muttered, "Urgh, it stinks of body odor..."

I managed to move closer to Dae-Man with my legs trembling so hard that I was on the verge of collapsing. I opened my tightly clenched fist and adjusted my stance.

From now on, I was going to rely on skill rather than blindly throwing punches.

As I stood before Dae-Man, who stood firm and resolute, I recalled my conversation with Yuk Eun-Hyung.

‘When an opponent approaches, there’s no need to engage in close combat. It’s better to keep a distance and actively utilize the power of Loa.’

‘However, what if the opponent keeps trying to approach me? Just like you, for example.’

‘Ah, there is a technique for that situation.’

Yuk Eun-Hyung had taught me a simple, no-frills technique that was quite practical.

‘The technique is called throwing.’

Just as I had learned from Yuk Eun-Hyung, I put my foot on Dae-Man's leg, lifted his massive and heavy body in one fluid motion, and threw him using all my strength. Dae-Man flew into the air.

Boom...

Dae-Man was suspended in the air for a few seconds before crashing to the ground. The sound of that massive man landing reverberated across Eiden Hill.

Lying on the ground, Dae-Man trembled and then eventually went still. I hurriedly over to Dae-Man, thinking he was dead.

Dae-Man was clutching his waist while saliva dripped from his mouth.

"Argh, my back!"

"Oh... I'm sorry, really. I didn't mean for this to happen!"

"No, it was a good match. As expected, you never disappoint!"

Dae-Man was unable to continue speaking and closed his eyes. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. The pain in his back seemed severe.

Beeep—! Beeep—!

The shock detection device attached to his body suddenly emitted two loud beeps. Upon closer inspection, I could see that the device was completely destroyed. It seemed like I had failed to control my strength.

As the beeps echoed, Do-Jin appeared from somewhere. Do-Jin saw Dae-Man collapsed on the ground and approached him with a worried expression.

"Dae-Man! Dae-Man!! Are you dead?"

Dae-Man suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Ah, I'm not dead. I just pretended to be dead because I was swept away by the mood..."

Do-Jin let out a sigh of relief. "You crazy bastard... scaring people like that. Do you really want to die?"

Do-Jin called another teacher and instructed him to take Dae-Man to the infirmary.

After dealing with most of the aftermath, Do-Jin's gaze turned toward me with a blatantly resentful expression.

"Hey, just think of it as playing around and take it easy. You don't need to be so intense."

“...”

I didn't respond to Do-Jin. I felt like I was being treated unjustly, as I was already taking the exam with the mindset of taking it easy.

In fact, I’d agreed to Dae-Man's suggestion of fighting without weapons partly for fun. It would have been difficult for me to take it easier than that.

Perhaps sensing how aggrieved I felt just from my gaze, Do-Jin let out a deep sigh and said, "Yes, it's important to take it seriously since it’s an exam... But still, don't hurt anyone, okay? Got it?"

"Yes, I understand," I replied with a nod.

Do-Jin turned away with a haggard look on his face as if he was utterly exhausted.

The heated atmosphere from the battle instantly cooled down due to Do-Jin’s appearance.

After Dae-Man left, silence returned, and only three people remained: me, Min-Seo, and Ha-Rin.

Ha-Rin glanced between me and Min-Seo. She muttered, "I think I'll just surrender..."

Beeeep—!

She then took off the shock detection device from her body and surrendered.